Once Again, Do NOT Give a Living Creature As a Gift

A little over a week away from the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, I once again implore all of the people who read this: do NOT give a living creature as a present or gift!  This is my usual winter rave and rant....  Any pet - be it a puppy, kitten, bunny, rat, mouse, ferret, bird, spider, snake, iguana, frog, fish, pig, calf, dog, cat, pony or horse - needs a life-time of care and attention.  Care and attention and love.  All three of these things take time, patience, and (unfortunately) money.  There are vet visits, grooming, annual shots, food, treats, toys, collars, halters, cages, aquariums, terrariums, pasture and stalling to consider.
   If you have a good friend or lover that truly loves animals, give a donations in your friend's name to a no-kill shelter, a local Humane Society, or a local zoo.  There are all sorts of refuges around the country that accept donations in someone's name to "sponsor" a specific animal for a certain amount of time.  You can donate to dog and cat and horse and other rescue groups...
   I know a whole lot of people who pass a dog or cat, and say, "Oh, I wish I had one!"  That person usually does not have a pet for a good reason - their job takes them away from home frequently, they have to work odd or late hours, they don't have a "normal" schedule; or they have other commitments that take up their spare time.
   Remember that if you take an animal home, to your home, or someone else's home, as a gift, that you are ultimately responsible for the care of that animal for the rest of it's life.  Believe it, or not, but all creatures form some type of bond with their human care-givers.  Dogs form a pack, cats a clowder, rodents form colonies, and large animals form herds.  If you take a small animal away from it's family, YOU are now it's family and leader.
   If you really, terribly need to give a person a pet, tell them about your need to do so.  If they will accept the full responsibility this entails, then take them to an animal shelter, Humane Society, or rescue center, and let the person who will be the owner/guardian select the pet of their choice...
  Please do NOT give a breathing, living creature as a gift - ever - unless it's to yourself, and you have the time, love, money, and ability to care for it for it's lifetime.

Adopt a Cat - And Fires & Flooding

Cats continue to be available for free adoption at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley though the end of August.  Any cat, aged 6 months or older, is available for adoption at no charge from HSBV - they currently have 80 cats in residence.  These kitties have been spayed or neutered, have all their vaccinations, have been checked out by a licensed veterinarian, and are micro-chipped for identification.  All you have to do is add a loving home with plenty of fresh water and food.  Believe me, the felines will love you forever for saving them.  Not only does HSBV have a surfeit of cats, the Pikes Peak Region of the Human Society has 50 cats that were saved from a hoarder two months ago, that are also ready for adoption.  If you have the money, time, space, and love available, please give one of these cats a good, new, loving, for ever home.  The cats available for adoption at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley may be seen on-line at: http://www.boulderhumane.org/animals/adoption/adopt_cats   The 127 cats available from the Pikes Peak Region may be viewed at: http://www.hsppr.org/cats   I have adopted cats and kittens of all ages throughout my life, and I have to say that they have all given me much more than I have ever given them.

We just can't seem to escape from fires and flooding out here in the West.  In nine western states, there are 95 wildfires burning - and that doesn't include Texas.  California is leading in today's number game, with 20 active wildfires; Idaho comes in second, with 19; and Colorado and Arizona are tied for third with a dozen each.  Utah and Montana each have seven wildfires burning, while Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming each have six fires raging.  It's amazing we don't go up in smoke.  According to the InciWeb, at noon today, there were 893,390 acres ablaze in these nine states - that equals 1,395.92 square miles....  That's more than the size of the state of Rhode Island (1,214 square miles), and a little over half of the size of the state of Delaware (2,490 square miles).  It's kind of frightening.
   And, now, of course, Colorado is getting the summer monsoon rains - which we really need, don't get me wrong.  But they seem to be falling over areas that have been burned by wildfires over the past 24 months; not long, light rain showers, but real possum pounders that consist of large, heavy rain drops that strike the ground like strafing bullets from a Fokker airplane.  The grass and small undergrowth is just starting to take hold and send their roots deep - this rain drills down into the soil and lifts everything out.  And I do mean everything - young plants, trees, ashes from previous burns, mud, soil, clay, downed limbs, any detritus that can float - it's amazing.  I'm sure you've seen the videos of the mudslides and flash floods in Manitou Springs - that's a heavily traveled area, and, as such, people are there to document the cars sliding away in rivers of mud.  It's just plain old amazing....

Free Cat Adoptions; A Matter of Skin Color

I was totally unprepared for what happened yesterday afternoon.  My friend, Bea, and I had a late morning brunch at Turley's Kitchen, an all-local and all-natural restaurant a few blocks from our apartment.  Since I had a book reserved at the public library, and Bea wanted to pick up a few DVDs. we wandered over to the library, enjoying the sunshine, fresh air, and cooler temperatures.  We visited the library, and I picked up two books, while Bea got a season of a TV show on DVD.  We were wearing shorts and T-shirts and athletic shoes; I'm 57 and Bea is 61.  Across the street from the library is a grocery store named Alfalfa's - I'd been inside once before, but was not impressed.  They have a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, and tons of natural oils, powders, and additives.  A shopping bag that costs $1.49 in other grocery stores is sold for $12.99 at Alfalfa's.  After taking five steps inside the grocery store, we picked up a "tail" - an employee of the store, who followed every step we took around and about the inside of the store.  We noticed him immediately, because he was wearing a bright red vest, and he was very blatant about "keeping his eyes on" us.  We turned around at one point in time, and almost knocked him over, he was following us so close.  We had stopped at the store to see if a mutual friend was working; she wasn't, so we left.  The man in the red vest followed us to the door, and then turned away when we waved at him.  Bea was the only person of color in that store.  She and I are both certain that her color of skin is the reason that we were followed. Neither of us will ever step inside another Alfalfa's again.  It was just so jaw-droppingly blatant .....
  Through the rest of this month, up until closing tie on Saturday, 31 August, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley is again offering any and all felines who are 6 months of age (or over) for free adoptions.  There are currently 78 cats looking for a "for ever" home, which means that 7 kitties found homes yesterday.  The cats have all been checked by a veterinarian, have all the needed current shots and vaccinations, are spayed or neutered, and have micro-chips.  If you have the time, money, space, and love to provide a cat a new, loving home, please do.  If you can afford to donate money to the HSBV to help care for any homeless dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, ferrets, etc., please do that, also.  (The donations are a tax write-off!)  Homeless animals need love and comfort, too.
   If you are interested in the mud slides and flooding that swept 20 cars off the road near Manitou Springs earlier this week, I recommend you view: http://www.9news.com/news/article/349414/71/Body-recovered-from-mudslide-near-Manitou-Springs
   I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful!